Ep. 1731 Ruchè & Sagrantino By Russ Lorber | Italian Grape Geek

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For me, Rudeque was really a grape of interest because it is one of the few truly aromatic red grape varieties. And this is an area that I'm really seeking to explore both in red wines and in white wines. So for me, finding a red wine grape that produced aromatic wines was something of interest to explore. And I've had the chance to try quite a few examples of this. You can find there's a range of ways it can be made and there's a diversity of possibilities with photoke grape. But they always typically have that fresh red floral character to it. So the grape is thought to be an offspring of Caratina and Malvasia Adematica dipana. And it may have been present back to the middle ages. There's not a clear origin of the name it might be a reference to, but on Cet, a disease that it resists better than other grapes in the region, or St. Roch, which is a defunct Benedictine monastary. Interestingly, the grape was nearing extinction, but then Don Jacamo Cabal revitalized it in the Castanioli area. It's an early ripening grape and it has firm tannins, but a key challenge is balancing a relatively low acidity level. And sometimes to do that, a winemaker will actually get some early harvest grapes with higher acidity and blended into the wine. For soil type, dry and calcareous will produce the most fragrant examples. While the clay soils will provide more structure, fuller body, and deeper color. In the glass, the character is the red rose aroma with red berries, but there's also can be black pepper and mint characters as well. And sometimes We also see Rukei aged in large barrels. Over time, that aromatic character is reduced, but then the wine will pick up more complexity. The key DOCG is Castagnole Montvarato. Today, it's made as a dry red wine, but historically Ruce was made in a sweeter style. We don't see too many examples of Ruce in the local market, but it can be found most likely at fine wine stores or Italian product stores. As with other grapes, I encourage people to try as many examples as they can find of a different grape to see how it can be diverse. And with Ruce, in particular, it could be made in a number of different styles and manners, and so it can take on a variety of characters and complexity as well. But you will almost always get that typical red rose aromatic character that in some cases, especially with the fresher examples, can almost blast out of the glass at you, which is really one of the wonderful things to me about this particular grape. The first time I discovered the Rucea grape was at a trade tasting event. It was the Gamvaro Roso Trebicchietti roadshow in New York City some years ago, and it was a grape that was on my radar because it's one of the few truly aromatic red wine grapes, which is something that I've been seeking out. And so at that particular roadshow, I was able to taste with a few producers of bouquet based wines that were classic producers and really get a good essence of the different styles in which the wine can be made because there's the fresher style, which probably for me is the more personally preferred one, but there's also more age styles that can be more developed where that aromatic character can drop out a little bit. It's still there, but it'll also take on some more complexity from that aging process. The first time I tried it, I had the opportunity to have these different examples that were made in in different styles and see what the grape is really capable of doing. Benchmark producers of Ruce would include Luca Feraris, Versano, Montelvera, and Fabrizia Caldera. With food, I would pair Ruce with pasta or risotto a staple dish in piemonte, but also ravioli. And Ruce can also complement some medium cheeses with the more aged examples being a good pairing for more aged cheeses and game. Hi. This is Russ, and I'm back to explore the Sacramento grape, which is found in the region of Umbria, and most notably in the area of Montefalco. I first had the opportunity to try a Sagrantino wine probably about four years ago. As I was starting my company, I was looking for producers to represent, and I came across a producer. From umbria, who I connected with and received some samples. And so the first time I tried it was this particular producer sending me samples. One was a month of algoros so, which had Sagrantino as part of the blend. And then the other was a one hundred percent Sagrantino varietal wine. What first stood out to me with Sangrantino, which is as you get to know, the great, the obvious thing is the very high level of tanning. And so I would say at that point, my palate was less refined, and didn't really have the appreciation for how you could have different mouthfeel with a highly highly canic wine depending on the producer and the grape grower and what they do. But those tannins definitely stand out. And so with a hundred percent Sagrantino wine, it was even more tannic than, say, a barolo where those tannins almost feel like they're gripping your mouth. And then even in the Montefalco rosso, where I think Sogrentino was about twenty percent of that particular blend. I really saw how much it's capable of adding to a blend because even at twenty percent, those Sabrantino characters really come through and most particularly those tannins. So It is a grape that it needs to be tamed and it needs to open up. But when you find the really great examples, you'll find the tannins can be almost velvety, and it takes on a development that gives it a really cool complexity. So definitely a grape worth exploring. So as I said, it's the most tenant grape in Italy. It has thick skins and a high level of polyphenols in the skins. And because of that, there's actually The ratio of juice to skins is lower with Sacramento than it is with other grapes. And so it really requires a lot of care both in the vineyard and also in the cellar in order to have a balanced structure. And in fact, some winemakers may blend in the free run juice without the skins just to help balance those tannins in the final product a little bit more. There aren't any genetic linkages known, and it's unclear whether the grape is native or traditional in Italy. The name itself may be a reference to Sagra, which is the name of a feast or sacrestia referring to communion wine in the Catholic church. We see references back to the sixteenth century Although it's possible the great may have been known to the Romans as well. Plantings of Sabarantino are increasing because it's becoming more popular. And again, the challenges are in the balance with the structure. Sometimes a winemaker will also use wood aging to tame that wine and then round it out a little bit more, allowing the tannins further times to develop. The characters that we typically see with Sabantino would include dark fruit, like, blackberry, black cherry can have aromas of violet and licorice, and then develop examples or more aged examples take on leather and earth characters and maybe even some olive vegetable type characters, which can be really interesting. The vast majority of the Sagrantino wines are made as dry wines. Although in Montefauco Sangrantino docG, it does allow for the Pecito style wines, which is a more traditional version. We often find Sagrantino and blends in the Montefalco Roso DOC. It can be blended with Sanjay as well as with, with international varietals. And as I mentioned before, Just a little bit of Sagrantino goes a long way. So even at ten percent, it can contribute a lot of character to that blend. We do see Sagrantino and Monte Falco Dorosil wines here in the US markets, and typically at the finer wine stores, and also in Italian product stores. Benchmark producers would include Aronaldo Caprai, Tavarini, Mungarotti, and Pardi. And so for food pairing, the best pairing with Sacramento would be something with a high fat content, and So it goes really well with sausages, roasted meats, and more aged cheeses. Although it's also known to be a stand alone meditation wine. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, EmailIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italianline podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time.